Heath Ledger Tagged Articles at Cinematical

While the world mourns the loss of Michael Jackson, Vanity Fair has cooked up a somewhat controversial (and fairly random) look back at Heath Ledger's final days, with quotes from his agent, his vocal coach, director Terry Gilliam and Doctor Parnassus cinematographer Nicola Pecorini. The article, published in part on Vanity Fair's website, is broken into different paragraphs with titles like "How chronic insomnia may have led to his death" and "How his relationship failed." Did the world -- not to mention Ledger's fans, friends and family -- really need all these old wounds dug up and scraped for a little extra attention? Probably not.

Of all the quotes, the most fascinating seem to be the ones which talk about The Dark Knight, and how Ledger's pay-or-play deal allowed him to do whatever he wanted with the role of Joker seeing as he was to still receive a paycheck regardless of whether he remained in the movie. According to Pecorini, Ledger was actually hoping his performance was way too out there and that he'd get fired, allowing him to take a nice, long paid vacation. Ledger's agent, Steven Alexander, sort of backs up the statement with this one about the actor's attitude toward big summer movies, saying he "was always hesitant to be in a summer blockbuster, with the dolls and action figures and everything else that comes with one of those movies. He was afraid it would define him and limit his choices."

The article also delves into Ledger's rampant drug use, eventual sobriety and just how rough his break-up with Michelle Williams was. It also links off to a 2000 photo spread featuring the actor in some, um, interesting poses. Definitely an odd piece, and I'm sure some will be critical of Vanity Fair for running it. Check it out over here and let us know what you think.

[via The Playlist]

It's hard to believe it's been a year since The Dark Knight, and the Batman 3 rumor mill just hasn't stopped grinding. Someone, somewhere, is always trying to flog a rumor of who will be Catwoman, Penguin, Riddler, or Robin. When they get tired of fantasy casting, they ponder when Christopher Nolan will abandon this Inception thing, and get going on Batman 3.

In a piece passed wildly around the net, Batman on Film is reporting that Nolan is very uninterested in returning to Gotham City. The story goes that Heath Ledger's death upset him greatly, and dismantled any and all plans he had for a third installment. The Joker was set to return (is that really a surprise?), and now there's simply no story. While Nolan and David S. Goyer are working on ideas, it's unlikely you'll see anything before 2012 at the earliest, with 2013 being more likely.

Terry Gilliam's latest fantastical adventure, titled The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, screened at the Cannes Film Festival a little while ago, and the first reviews are out. The film, which is obviously drawing more press because it features Heath Ledger's final performance, is, like most of Gilliam's films, a little on the weird side (read the full synopsis after the jump). When Ledger passed away without finishing his work on the movie, it appeared as if the Gilliam curse had struck again -- leaving him little choice but to either scrap the entire film or hire a new lead actor and re-shoot all his scenes. Thankfully Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law came to the rescue, and they somehow found a way to have these three gents finish Ledger's remaining scenes by playing alternate-dimension versions of the same character. So what's the final outcome?

"... the film's convoluted curlicues are tiring, insisting too loudly on how "imaginative" everything is. And when it descends into the real world – Lucy out of the sky without diamonds, as it were – the film can frankly be a bit ho-hum, with some very broad acting from the bit-part crowd players. Gilliam's previous movie Tideland showed he still has teeth, and he bares them occasionally here. The dark side reveals itself, time and again, in the ruined, unsentimental locations in London. But this movie, though perfectly amiable, could be for fans only." -- Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

"Synthesizing elements from several of his previous pictures, including "Time Bandits," "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" and "The Fisher King," the often overreaching director addresses a mad hatter of a story with the expected visual panache and what is, for him, considerable discipline. With Ledger onscreen more than might have been expected, the film possesses strong curiosity value bolstered by generally lively action and excellent visual effects, making for good commercial prospects in most markets." Todd McCarthy, Variety

More quotes, a scene featuring Ledger and the synopsis after the jump ...

MTV has announced the nominees for the 18th annual MTV Movie Awards, to the delight of whoever it is that watches MTV or is interested in the opinions of those who do. Predictably, the film with the most nominations is Synecdoche, New York, Charlie Kaufman's dizzyingly surreal examination of mankind's fear of mortality. No, I'm kidding, it's Twilight.

The creepy-but-not-the-way-they-intended vampire romance leads the pack with seven nominations, including best movie, best female performance (Kristen Stewart), breakthrough male performance (Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner), best fight, best kiss, and best song (apparently Twilight had a song).

The other best movie nominees are, in ascending order of WTF-ness, Slumdog Millionaire, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Speaking of which, they've added two new categories: the best song group (which also includes Bruce Springsteen's Oscar-snubbed theme from The Wrestler), and best WTF? moment (nominees include Amy Poehler peeing in the sink in Baby Mama).

Heath Ledger is posthumously nominated in the best villain category, where his competition includes Dwayne Johnson in Get Smart (I guess that's a spoiler, since we don't find out he's a bad guy until the end) and Johnathon Schaech from Prom Night. Do you suppose Ledger's family will fly in from Australia to accept the award like they did at the Oscars? Will the experience be diminished by having the golden popcorn trophy handed to them by Lady Gaga?

Andy Samberg will host the show, airing live on MTV on Sunday, May 31. Eminem is among the scheduled performers. MTV viewers selected the nominees, and anyone can vote for them at MTV's site. This is democracy in action, people. Take your responsibility seriously.

As we wait for an American studio to break down, and cough up the money to buy and distribute Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, some new stills have leaked out that give a hint as to why it's being labeled "too arthouse." (Not that we agree with such things here at Cinematical, obviously. There's no such thing as too arthouse in our books.)

The photos are watermarked Quick Stop Entertainment but I snagged them from the obliging CHUD, who snagged them from a Johnny Depp blog, and no one seems to know quite where they originated. (How appropriate.) The Depp blog also managed to produce a photo that includes Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, and a not-as-scary Christopher Plummer. I would almost suspect it of being fan made except that the costumes Depp & Co are sporting look right for the film.

So, as you await news of a buyer and a release date, gaze at the gallery below and wonder if you should travel to Europe where it's promised a release date. You have to hand it to Hollywood though -- you'd think every studio would be chomping at the bit to get Heath Ledger's last performance, but clearly decency (and squeamishness at the idea of "arthouse cinema") still has some sway in Tinseltown.

Vanity Fair is known for their ambitious (and sometimes controversial) photo spreads, and whenever one pops up online -- with the exception of those ultra funky Hitchcock recreations -- the name most likely associated with them is Annie Leibovitz. She's worked as the featured portrait photographer for VF since 1983, and some of her most buzzed-about photos include the very pregnant (and very naked) Demi Moore Vanity Fair cover, as well as the sexed-up Miley Cyrus photo that caused quite the stir last year. Some of the more geeky Leibovitz images can be found in her series of Disney photographs featuring celebs recreating classic scenes from our favorite Walt Disney movies (read more about that here and here).

This time around, Leibovitz's Something Just Clicked collection for Vanity Fair features 10 partnerships that helped generate more than four dozen Oscar nods this year. The image above, featuring Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger (The Risktakers), is of course a composite, but it's one of my favorites -- especially the way they position both Nolan and Ledger, with the former quietly sneaking off to the corner away from the spotlight. Other partnerships photographed include Woody Allen and Penelope Cruz (The Odd Couple), Nicole Kidman and Baz Luhrmann (The Colonists), Gus Van Sant and Sean Penn (The Milk Men), Sam Mendes and Kate Winslet (The Partnership) and Darren Aronofsky and Mickey Rourke (The Ringers), among others. Check out a few of our favorites below, then swing over to Vanity Fair to see the rest.

Casting choices can sometimes be shocking, and if the same character makes it to the big screen more than once, chances are the casting choices will be quite diverse. I mean, we've already had Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, and Christian Bale as Batman in recent years. But how about Jack Black in place of Heath Ledger?

MTV had a brief chat with Gus Van Sant, who is getting ready to bring Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test to the big screen. The director admitted that his ideal choice for Ken Kesey is the late Ledger, but since that can't happen, Van Sant said: "There's the opportunity that it could be Jack Black." But first, he's waiting to get the first draft from screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (who penned the wonderful Milk for Van Sant).

As much as I've gotten used to casting twists, this is about the last replacement I'd ever think of. Jack Black? Really? That just seems silly. And as much as Dustin eases my Van Sant worries (I'm not a fan of his previous Cowgirls and Paranoid adaptations), because Milk was so great, the thought of Black as Kesey does nothing for my hope. If this is the direction Van Sant is leading towards, maybe we should help him out.

Who would you cast for these folks? Ken Kesey. Hunter S. Thompson. William S. Burroughs. Allen Ginsberg. Timothy Leary. Plus, musically-inclined folks like Jerry Garcia, The Beatles, and Jefferson Airplane?

The Critics Choice Awards, given out by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, have successfully picked the Best Picture Oscar winner seven out of the last ten years (they went for Saving Private Ryan instead of Shakespeare in Love; Sideways instead of Million Dollar Baby and Brokeback Mountain instead of Crash). So things are looking better and better for Slumdog Millionaire, which all but swept the awards last night, taking Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Young Actor, and Best Composer.

Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor, and The Dark Knight won "Best Action Movie," a nonsense new category invented for the sole purpose of giving The Dark Knight an award. Sean Penn won for Milk, surprising no one. Anne Hathaway for best actress (tying with Meryl Streep) and Kate Winslet for Best Supporting Actress were less foregone conclusions.

Mildly off-topic, John Adams won the award for best TV Movie; Generation Kill, which remains my favorite film of any sort in 2008, wasn't even nominated, which is absurd.

The full list of winners is after the jump.